


I've Got You

by OneMoreNight1996



Series: axgweek 2020 [2]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Light Angst, Storm's End (ASoIaF)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 08:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25690063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneMoreNight1996/pseuds/OneMoreNight1996
Summary: After the death of his father, Arya accompanies Gendry to Storm's End for the will reading.Written for axgweek Day 2: Got Your Back
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Series: axgweek 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861408
Comments: 11
Kudos: 114





	I've Got You

She didn't even know what was going on but the moment he called, she dropped everything to go to him. When she got to his flat, she found him sitting on his couch with his head in his hands and she sat on the coffee table in front of him to pull them away gently. His eyes were red and he looked scared, like he was ready to bolt. They'd been friends since she was a child and she'd never seen him quiet like this. It worried her but she refused to let it show, he needed her to be strong for him right now.

"Gendry." She said his name gently, placing a hand on either side of his face and forcing him to look at her. "I need you to calm down and talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."

"I got a call from someone in Storm's End." He said softly. "Renly Baratheon."

"I know him." She told him. "Why was he calling you?"

"His brother was my father, that's what he told me." He said, his eyes darting over her face. "Apparently he had someone track down all of his bastards before he died and wrote us all into his will in a fit of guilt. We're all supposed to come down to hear the will reading in a couple of days."

"Okay." She said slowly, nodding her head. "You should probably pack then and I can call Mr. Mott and tell him that you won't be in for a few days."

"I don't know if I can go." He said, shaking his head. "For fuck's sake, I'm nearly thirty. My father didn't bother to be involved before he died, why should I be involved now."

"You can at least go and find out what he left to you." She suggested.

"I don't want a damn thing from him." He snapped, the anger finally lighting in his eyes.

"Then go to meet your siblings, the other bastards he forgot about." She said, squeezing his hand lightly. "You always said it'd be nice to have siblings like I do. This is your chance."

"It's not the same, they're strangers. We didn't grow up together like you and your siblings did." He said.

"Maybe not, but perhaps you can build a relationship with them now." She encouraged. "Who knows, maybe one day you'll be as close as I am to my siblings."

"I doubt that." He said. "But you're right, I should at least try."

She nodded before wrapping her arms around him and holding tightly. He blew out a shaky breath against her neck as his arms went around her and he dragged her closer until she was seated on his lap. It was a familiar position, one they always seemed to find themselves in when they needed comfort and she began running her fingers through his hair in a soothing gesture.

They had never shied away from physical affection with one another, something that her mother had highly disapproved of when she was younger, and it had led to more than one relationship ending for both of them. It had been strange for both of them when they fell into the physical aspect of their comfort so easily as both of them shied away from much physical contact with anyone before they'd become friends but it was just a natural part of their relationship now.

Many people, her siblings included, were convinced that their relationship was more than friendly but that wasn't the case. He was her best friend and nothing more, though sometimes late at night, she'd indulge in a fantasy of more. She never let her feelings affect their relationship though, it was far to important to her to jeopardize in any way but when he held her like this, she couldn't help but feel like maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to say something about her feelings. She never did though.

Eventually his grip on her loosened and she brushed her hands down the side of his face, giving him a soft smile filled with all the things she'd never say as she allowed him to stand and move toward his bedroom. He left the door open, allowing her to see that he was packing a small bag and she immediately grabbed his phone from the table and proceeded to call his boss and explain the situation. Mr. Mott was understanding and gave him the next few days off to sort things out.

When he came back out and dropped the bag on the couch, he looked at her with a serious expression on his face and she knew he wanted to say something so she gave him an encouraging smile.

"Will you come with me?" He asked, his voice low and soft. She studied his face for a long moment, seeing the pleading in his eyes, before she stepped toward him and hugged him again.

"Of course I'll come." She said, resting her head against his chest. She'd been planning to anyway, even before he'd asked. "You know you don't even have to ask."

"Thank you." He said and she heard the relief in his voice as he pressed his lips to the crown of her head. She only held him tighter.

* * *

It only took two hours to drive from King's Landing to Storm's End but Gendry didn't feel ready to meet anyone, though Renly had invited them all to a little get together at his house, so instead they got a hotel room and watched movies on her laptop the rest of the night. She knew that the will reading was still two days away so when she woke the next morning, she looked up the best places to visit in Storm's End and dragged Gendry along with her.

"I don't know why you put so much thought into this, Arry." He said as they finished their food from the restaurant that she'd seen on the list of places which supposedly had the best barbecue in Westeros.

"I know that you didn't really want to come so I thought I'd make the trip a bit more fun since we have to be here." She shrugged. "A mini vacation, if you will. I thought it might cheer you up."

"You're kind of amazing, you know." He said, a soft look on his face that made her heart flutter a little.

"I know." She said teasingly, flipping her hair obnoxiously. "It's a lot of work to be this good."

"I take it back." He said, rolling his eyes even as a grin spread across his face. "You're just obnoxious. I forgot, a momentary lapse in judgement."

"Shut up!" She exclaimed, shoving his shoulder lightly. He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her and yanked her toward him, their seated positions causing her to pitch to the side, giggling all the while. "Stop!"

He pushed her back upright, grin even wider than before, and she noticed that they were causing quite a scene with their antics so she grabbed the ticket from the table and stood.

"Off to our next destination?" He asked and she nodded as she moved toward the counter to pay.

"I think the other people here will be grateful for our departure." She commented and he snorted.

"Probably." He said. "You're a bit disruptive."

"Me?!" She exclaimed as she bumped him with her hip on their way out. "That was totally your fault."

"Keep telling yourself that m'lady." He said, tipping an imaginary hat to her and she glared at him.

"Don't call me that." She said. He laughed at her reaction before promptly ignoring her words.

"So, where are we going next then m'lady?" He asked. She rolled her eyes but answered his question.

"I thought we might go to the park." She said and he raised an eyebrow.

"All that research about the best places to visit and you're going to go with the park?" He asked.

"They have a butterfly garden." She shrugged and the soft look from the restaurant came back to his face.

"You know, with the way you look people wouldn't expect you to be such a softy." He said. "With your love of flowers and butterflies and small fluffy animals."

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, crossing her arms and he looked her up and down.

She supposed she saw his point. She was wearing shorts with fishnet stockings underneath and her chucks along with a black crop top, not to mention her pink hair and nose ring. It was possible that she looked entirely like the type that would pretend to hate everyone and everything while standing around and looking angsty.

"I hate you." She muttered and he chuckled.

"No you don't." He said. She rolled her eyes again and spun on her heal to march away from him in the direction of the park she'd looked up on her phone's map. He caught up with her easily, slinging his arm around her shoulder to prevent her from escaping again, and they walked the rest of the way together.

For such a nice day, there weren't as many people as she had thought there would be at the park meaning that they got into the butterfly garden quickly. She looked around happily, seeing all different colors of butterflies fluttering around, and she unconsciously clutched at Gendry's arm but he didn't complain. She pulled him to a stop in the center of the garden and they stayed as still as they could until the butterflies fluttering around came over to land on their skin.

Her smile grew even wider and when she met Gendry's eyes, she saw something there that she couldn't quiet read as he stared at her. The smile froze on her face as he moved toward her slowly and she was almost thought he was going to kiss her before the moment was broken by a blue butterfly landing directly on his nose. His face scrunched up as his eyes crossed in an attempt to see it fully making her laugh out loud. The sudden sound scared the butterflies away from them and she was left clutching her side and staring at him in amusement.

"I'm glad you're here with me Arya." He said, his voice sincere. "You make it more bearable. I don't know what I'd be doing if you weren't here."

"I'm happy to be here for you Gendry." She told him. "You're my best friend. I do anything for you, you know that."

"I kind of love you, Arya Stark." He said and though she knew he didn't mean it in the way she truly wanted, it still made her heart squeeze in her chest.

"I kind of love you too, Gendry Waters." She returned. They were left standing in the middle of the butterfly garden staring at each other with soft smiles on their faces with longing in their hearts.

* * *

When the day came for the will reading, Gendry still hadn't met any of his half siblings that had come for the same reason and she could tell that he was nervous as they parked in front of the large house that belonged to Renly Baratheon even with his attempts to hide it.

"Hey, look at me." She said gently. His eyes turned to meet hers and she gave him a serious look. "I'm right here, it's going to be okay. We're going to go in there and hear what's said and I'll be there the whole time. We'll leave when it's over if you want."

"You'll stay by my side?" He asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"The whole time." She assured him. "I've got your back."

"Okay." He breathed out, nodding determinedly, before opening his door and climbing out of the car. She mirrored his move and met him at the front of the car before grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers.

She pulled him gently toward the house and entered through the open door, following the soft conversation she could hear to the sitting room, and she watched as Gendry took a deep breath before entering. His grip on her hand tightened as the conversation lulled for a moment at their entrance while the people in the room studied them. It was like a sea of blue eyes and dark hair and she had no doubt in her mind that these people were related to Gendry as they all looked quite similar to each other.

She wasn't expecting so many people and it was obvious that Gendry wasn't either as his eyes went wide. A thought came to her that his father must have been quite the man whore but she had better sense than to say that out loud. She pulled Gendry further into the room as he'd stopped only a few steps in and everyone went back to their conversations.

She saw him glancing around at the obviously opulent surroundings and it reminded her suddenly of the first time he'd come to her family home. He had grown used to her families house but she knew that the obvious wealth still made him uncomfortable and she could see that in him now. He very obviously didn't want to be here, his body language closed off, causing her to move closer to him and rub the hand she wasn't holding his with up and down his arm in an attempt to calm him down.

She saw the tension in his shoulders loosen and while he still wasn't entirely calm, he seemed much more at ease than he had a moment before. A woman maybe a few years older than her practically bounced over to them and her features transformed into a wide smile.

"Hi, I'm Bella." She said, thrusting her hand out to shake both of theirs in turn. "I don't think I've met you at any of the small get together's that Renly held."

"We weren't able to make it to any of them." Arya said, taking the conversation when it became obvious that Gendry wasn't going to. "Work obligations, but we're here now. It's lovely to meet you. I'm Arya and this is Gendry."

"It's so nice of you to be here for your boyfriend." She said. "Trust me, it's strange to be here alone."

"She's not my girlfriend." Gendry muttered and Bella's eyes went wide.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed." She said, her gaze dropping to their joined hands before quickly coming back up again.

"I'm his best friend." Arya clarified. "We've known each other since we were kids so it only seemed right to be here with him."

"Well either way, be happy you have some sort of support." She shrugged.

"Yeah." Gendry said quietly, giving her a small smile, and his voice went soft as he continued. "I couldn't do it without her."

"You could." She said, her cheeks tinging with pink.

Bella's eyes flickered between them as her eyebrows rose and Arya knew the look straight away because it was the same one that Sansa always gave her when she was trying to convince Arya that she and Gendry were actually a couple without realizing it. When she thought about it, it kind of made sense but it still annoyed the hell out of her.

Thankfully, the next moment a man stepped into the room with a briefcase in his hands alongside Renly Baratheon. He looked the same as he did the last time she'd seen him at the fundraiser her parents had thrown the last Christmas and she found herself wondering how she'd never connected the dots before about Gendry's parentage. He and Renly did similar enough for it to be a little eerie.

The man next to him was obviously older, having grey hair and a beard to match, but he had a friendly look about him that she appreciated. He moved to the front of the room, prompting everyone to take their seats, as he laid the briefcase on the table and snapped it open to remove a stack of papers.

"Hello everyone. My name is Davos Seaworth, I am the attorney for the Baratheon family." He spoke clearly but she could hear a hint of accent in his voice. It was a Flea Bottom accent, which she identified easily from listening to Gendry speak for so many years, and she could tell that he noticed too as he sat up straighter as he studied the man in front of them. "Now, I know that you've all been informed of the reason you were invited here and I know that you may not have a lot of love in your hearts for the man who sired all of you but I'm glad that you've come here anyway."

He glanced at Renly, prompting him to step forward for a moment to speak.

"I'm sure that some of you here have heard the Baratheon name before and may possibly know that we have business dealings all over the world." He said. "If any of you would like a position within the company, I'd be happy to find a place for you. I know that nothing will make up for my brother being lax in his duties as a father but I can at least help you build a solid career if you'd like. Furthermore, if any of you wish to take the family name, I'd be more than happy with that. Now, we'll get to the will."

Davos nodded firmly and flipped lifted the stack of papers from the table, clearing his throat and beginning to read.

"The last will and testament of Robert Steffon Baratheon. I, being of sound mind, dictate the following. On the matter of my home, I leave it to my sons Joffery and Tommen Baratheon and their sister Myrcella Baratheon. To my brother, Renly Baratheon, I leave my share of the company. To my wife, Cersei Lannister, I leave a letter explaining why she gets absolutely nothing." Davos spoke and Arya's eyebrows rose at the last wondering just how bad their marriage must have been before he died. "And finally, to all of my children acknowledged and not, I know I've made mistakes that I can never hope to fix but I hope that you can all find it in your hearts to at least acknowledge me as your father after my death, though I suppose it would be some kind of cosmic justice if you didn't. Anyway, whether you choose to acknowledge me or not, I'd feel wrong not leaving anything to you so. To my children, acknowledged and not, I leave the entire contents of my back account to be split evenly between them." Davos finished speaking and looked up at all of them. "The money has already been split evenly leaving all of you with five hundred thousand apiece. You should be receiving a check from the bank in the next few weeks."

"Holy shit." A girl sitting to their right hissed, drawing the attention of Arya easily and she shrugged. "That's a lot of money."

"It really is." Arya agreed, turning back to Gendry. He seemed shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth popped open a bit, making her jerk his hand slightly to get him to look at her. "You alright?"

"Holy fuck." He breathed out. "That's half a million dollars."

"I know." She said.

"What the fuck am I going to do with a half a million dollars?" He asked and she shrugged.

"Buy a house, invest it, give to a charity." She suggested. "You can do whatever you want with it."

"I, for one, am going to pay off my student loans and buy a better car." The girl next to them said, obviously having been listening to their conversation. "I'm Mya, by the way."

"Gendry." He returned, still seeming in a daze, and Mya's eyes turned to her.

"I'll give you guys a moment, he clearly needs it, but come find me after." She said, smiling at her. "I think it'd be nice to get to know both of you."

"We definitely will." Arya said. Mya trickled out of the room along with everyone else who'd been ushered along to the dining room for snacks and presumably, to talk about what had just happened. Arya, for her part, grabbed Gendry by the face gently and looked at him seriously as he blew out a harsh breath.

"I feel wrong taking the money." He revealed.

"Why?" She asked softly. He shook his head.

"He wasn't my father." He said harshly. "He fucked my mom and accidentally created me. He never intended for me to exist and he didn't give a damn that he left her high and dry. He wasn't there when she died or when I was being bounced around the system. He didn't even spare a thought for me, or any of his other children, until he was dying and he only cared then because he was at the end of his life and was trying to right his wrongs before he met the Gods to be judged. I feels wrong to take money from him now even if he is dead. It feels like he's trying to buy us or something."

"Well the check is already on it's way to you." She told him, running a gentle hand through his hair.

"I don't want it." He said. "I worked my ass off to put myself through college and get my engineering degree, I make good money at a job I actually like, and I did it all without him. I don't need his money now."

"Then give it to charity." She said, reiterating her point from before. "I was kind of kidding but if that's really how you feel about it then that would be a good option. I'm sure you could find a charity that you feel good about supporting and they could do amazing things with the money. A good thing to come out of this."

"You're not going to urge me to keep it?" He asked. "It's a lot of money, most people would tell me that I was an idiot for even thinking about giving it away."

"If it makes you feel bad about yourself to accept it then it's not worth it." She shrugged. "You should do what you feel is right. I support you, no matter what you choose. I always have."

He stared at her for a long moment, his face scrunching, and he seemed to be thinking hard about something before he suddenly reached out and dragged her into his lap. She gasped at the sudden movement before settling with a knee on either side of his legs as she met his eyes from the short distance between them.

"Gods Arya." He breathed out, his voice low. "I love you."

"I love you too Gen." She returned and he shook his head.

"No." He said, bringing his hands up to cup her face. " _I love you._ "

She didn't get a chance to respond that time as his lips were suddenly on hers and she made soft sound of surprise before her hands tightened on his shoulders and she gave herself over to the feelings flowing through her. The kiss slowed after a moment, becoming slow and sweet, before they both pulled back to meet one another's eyes again.

"Okay?" He asked, an edge or fear in his voice and she ran her hands down the sides of his face as she smiled.

"Okay." She returned with a nod. "I love you too."

He grinned and kissed her again, distracting them both for a while longer. Eventually though, they did make it to the next room with everyone else.

* * *

It was two months after the trip to Storm's End when Arya and Gendry moved into a flat together, each of them leaving their old ones behind, and she'd never been happier. Both her siblings and his new found ones teased them about their relationship and insistence they'd both had about it not being one but it was all in good fun so she didn't really mind. Their relationship was still much the same, just with the added bonus of sex, and she had to admit that they'd maybe had a point about them practically being in a relationship already.

Gendry had stuck with his decision to donate the money he received from his father, choosing a local charity that worked with underprivileged kids, and had even taken to donating some of his time. He knew what it was like to be in their situation making it easy for him to talk to them in a way that didn't make them feel threatened or looked down upon. It all made her feel very proud of him, as his friend and as his girlfriend.

Gendry hadn't gotten super close with most of his siblings but there were a few of them that he met with as much as he could and forming a bond that she could see growing into a strong family connection in the future. This included Bella, Mya, and the youngest of his siblings, Barra and her mother, who he had play dates with which mainly consisted of taking her out to the park to play. Even his brother Edric made a few appearances at these gatherings, though his attitude was a bit uppity compared to the rest of them so Gendry tended to have little patience for him, but at least he was trying. All in all, life continued as normal with the discovery of his father after all these years with the addition of a few more people in his life.

Most of all, their relationship with each other grew into something so much more which they were both quite happy with. They sometimes had spats and arguments but they endured and she knew she could always count on him to be there just as he could count on her. They had each other's backs through everything and that was something that would never change.


End file.
